From the Landfill to Renewable Energy

April 22nd, 2010

By Shari Caudill

Image via Wikipedia

Even though many around the world are honoring the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, the stark reality is that many people, companies and organizations are not taking the steps necessary for a healthy planet.

Nearly 5 pounds of garbage per person is thrown out daily. The result is methane-filled landfills. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) landfills are responsible for 34% of all methane gas releases in the United States.

Waste Management is one company that is striving to make a difference in the world. The company collects the methane gas at several of their landfills and processes it into a clean, renewable fuel.

“Not all of our 273 landfills have landfill gas to energy facilities (LFGTE) as these facilities require a certain and sustainable gas flow to justify the development of such facilities,” stated Wes Muir, Director of Communications for Waste Management, “Currently we have 115 sites with LFGTE facilities with plans to develop another 30 to 40 LFGTE facilities by 2013.”

The landfill gas is fed into a purification system where impurities such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, alcohols, and sulfur are removed. After the purification is complete, the gas is fed into an aluminum heat exchanger. The natural gas flows through one side and refrigerants on the other. The refrigerants cool the gas to -260 F to liquify it.

Acting like a thermos, the tanks in which the liquefied natural gas (LNG) is stored keep the gas in a liquid state until it is transported to a LNG filling station. Waste Management’s recycling vehicles and waste collection trucks can refill at these filling stations.

In addition to the LFGTE facilities, Waste Management also has 120 dedicated recycling centers across North America. According to Muir, some of the facilities are dedicated to specialized recycling of household recyclables, compact fluorescent lights (bulbs) (CFLs), batteries, or electronics, while others accept multiple commodities such as electronics and household recyclables.

For households without a CFL or battery recycling facility, nearby, Waste Management has Think Green® From Home recycling kits. Each kit has prepaid postage for shipping the materials via the U.S. Postal Service. The materials are separated at a recycling facility for reuse.